21.5 Gene technology and ethics

Question 1

why are ethical considerations important to make?

Answer 1

protection of human rights
human health and safety
animal welfare
protection of the environment

Question 2

why are the ethical issues surrounding the use of genetically engineered pathogens?

Answer 2

could be used as a biological weapon

pathogen could infect a scientist and lead to a global outbreak

Question 3

what were the initial ethical concerns surrounding genetic engineering?

Answer 3

the concept of inserting human genes into microorganisms

Question 4

how is genetic engineering used in soya beans?

Answer 4

the Bt protein is genetically engineered into the genome of soya beans

Bt protein is toxic to many insects and allows a farmer to use it as a pesticide

Question 5

what are the types of genetically engineered characteristics in plants?

Answer 5

pest resistance
disease resistance
herbicide resistance
nutritional value

Question 6

pros of pest resistance

Answer 6

insertion of pest-resistance genes means that mass use of pesticides are no longer needed which protect any bystander species

Question 7

pros of disease resistance

Answer 7

increases crop yield by increasing the resistance in plants to various diseases

Question 8

pros of herbicide resistance

Answer 8

allows for plants to survive when herbicides are used to kill competing plants

Question 9

cons of pest resistance

Answer 9

insect pests may develop resistance to pesticides used in GM plants

Question 10

cons of disease resistance

Answer 10

genes may spread to wild populations

Question 11

pros of nutritional value

Answer 11

GM can lead to increase in vitamins in plants
increases nutritional value

Question 12

cons of nutritional value

Answer 12

people may be allergic to GM crops

Question 13

what is technology transfer?

Answer 13

the sharing of knowledge, skills and technology

Question 14

what is a patent?

Answer 14

scientific companies apply for a legal patent for every engineered crop

this allows genetically modified products to be legally protected so companies can control who has access

Question 15

what are the ethical issues surrounding patenting and technology transfer?

Answer 15

farmers in poorer countries will not be able to buy the expensive genetically modified crops

less global access

Question 16

what is pharming?

Answer 16

production of human medicines from genetically modified animals

Question 17

what are the two types of pharming?

Answer 17

creating animal models

creating human proteins

Question 18

creating animal models

Answer 18

removing genes from test animals to allow them to develop a certain disease

this ‘model’ animal is used to help aid the development of a cure or therapy

Question 19

creating human proteins

Answer 19

gene for human protein is inserted into an animal’s genome where fertilisation occurs and the offspring have the desired inserted gene

Question 20

what are the ethical issues surrounding the use of animals in genetic engineering?

Answer 20

concerns over the manipulation of an animal’s genes could lead to harmful side effects

animal has no control (used as a test)

Question 21

what is gene therapy?

Answer 21

the alteration of alleles inside cells to cure genetic disorders

Question 22

iif a mutation is caused by a recessive allele how can it be stopped?

Answer 22

by inserting a working dominant allele

Question 23

if a mutation is caused by a dominant allele how can it be stopped?

Answer 23

by inserting a section of DNA between the alleles to ‘silence’ the dominant allele

Question 24

how are the new alleles inserted in gene therapy?

Answer 24

using vectors

Question 25

what are the two types of gene therapy?

Answer 25

somatic
germ line

Question 26

somatic therapy

Answer 26

altering the alleles involved in a disorder by replacing faulty allele with healthy one

does not affect the sex cells which means the disorder can be passed on to offspring

Question 27

germ line therapy

Answer 27

altering alleles in the sex cells

means that the offspring will not inherit the disease

Question 28

what are the positives of gene therapy?

Answer 28

prevent life-threatening genetic disorders

give people struggling with genetic disorders a better quality of life

allow carriers of a disease to have offspring who would not inherit the disorder

Question 29

what are the ethical issues surrounding gene therapy?

Answer 29

the potential impact it may have on the individual or their offspring

gene therapy is expensive and uncertain

violating autonomy of offspring who cannot decide whether they want gene therapy or not

aspects of cosmetic/desirable characteristics being used in offspring

Question 30

disadvantages of gene therapy

Answer 30

vectors may be identified as foreign, so an immune response occurs

if allele is inserted into wrong place then cancers could form

over-expression of inserted allele could lead to too much protein

treatment takes a long time